


(Not) Alone.

by unacaritafeliz



Series: Russian Skate Fam [2]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Viktor spelt with a k, also this is platonic af and viktuuri is still very much a thing, idk how to tag this no ones even gonna find it with these ship tags anyway, self deprecation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26561251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: Georgi swings the door open and comes face to face with Viktor Nikiforov, wearing a bright pink plastic rain jacket, one hand poised as if to knock on the door again. The men stare at each other for a few moments before Viktor's face lights up in a smile. It's not his genuine smile, the wide heart-shaped thing he reserves for Yuuri and Yura and hasn't directed at Georgi since they were pre-juniors, but it's not his media smile either, and Georgi supposes that's got to count for something.[Georgi's having a rough day. Viktor's trying to be a good friend]
Relationships: Victor Nikiforov & Georgi Popovich
Series: Russian Skate Fam [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931728
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32





	(Not) Alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Please assume they're thinking/speaking in Russian in this.

It's nearly midday when Georgi's morning of wallowing in bed and feeling sorry for himself is disturbed by a loud knock at his apartment door.

He strongly considers not answering; he hasn't moved from his bed all morning and it's either Yakov coming to berate him about missing practice or Mila coming to pester him because he skipped practice and he doesn't want to see either of them right now. He doesn't want to see _anyone_ right now. That's the entire reason he stayed home today.

Well, technically he stayed home because it's cold and rainy outside, and because it's Valentine's Day and he's pathetically single and alone, and because he's a hopeless skater who'll never win a gold medal in his own country, let alone in any international competition, but staying home didn't actually change any of that - it just meant that he wouldn't have to face other people whilst trying to deal with all of that.

"Gosha?!" calls a voice from the hallway. "Gosha, open the door!"

Georgi frowns. The voice is too light to be Yakov's voice, but too deep to be Mila's. It kind of sounds like Viktor, but that wouldn't make sense. Viktor's visited Georgi's apartment exactly once, and it was when Georgi agreed to pet sit for Makkachin when the rest of Team Russia was at the Grand Prix Final actually making something of their careers. It definitely can't be Viktor.

"Gosha?" the voice calls again, still sounding like Viktor. The visitor knocks on the door again. "Come on! I have food."

Georgi's stomach rumbles, almost on command. He had skipped breakfast in favour of staying in bed and hating himself, and he's not sure he has the energy to actually pull together anything for lunch. Maybe if he stays here, the mysterious person that sounds like Viktor will just leave the food and go, and Georgi will both get food and not have to interact with another human.

The visitor bangs on the door.

"Gosha!" says the voice, more firmly. "Don't make me tell Yakov you skipped practice and you're not even at home."

Georgi sighs and drags himself out of his blanket nest, reluctantly leaving the warmth of his bed to walk through his cold St. Petersberg hallway. He's not even sure why he cares about Yakov being mad at him anymore. It'd be better for everyone if Yakov kicked him off the team anyway, then Yakov could focus more of his time and energy on training Viktor and Yura and Mila, who actually have a chance at bringing home gold for Russia.

Georgi swings the door open and comes face to face with Viktor Nikiforov, wearing a bright pink plastic rain jacket, one hand poised as if to knock on the door again. The men stare at each other for a few moments before Viktor's face lights up in a smile. It's not his genuine smile, the wide heart-shaped thing he reserves for Yuuri and Yura and hasn't directed at Georgi since they were pre-juniors, but it's not his media smile either, and Georgi supposes that's got to count for something.

"Gosha, hello!" says Viktor, dropping his hand. "Can I come in? I have piroshki!"

Viktor holds up a miraculously dry paper bag with the name of Georgi's favourite bakery emblazoned on the front. They make the best piroshki in St. Petersburg but Georgi's brain still can't quite compute what's happening here. Viktor's definitely been a lot more social since he met Yuuri, but it still doesn't quite seem in character for him to be here with Georgi's favourite food.

"Georgi?" Viktor says. When Georgi looks back at him he finds that his smile has faded. "Is it okay? I thought it'd be nice to eat together, but if you don't want to I can leave..."

Viktor Nikiforov may be the most decorated male figure skater in history, and the direct cause of at least 50% of Georgi's own insecurities, but the second his blue eyes grow sad, Georgi finds himself stepping aside to let Viktor in.

"Of course it's okay, Vitya," he says, the nickname clumsy on his tongue from disuse. "Come in."

"Oh, yay!" Viktor cheers, stepping into the doorway and pressing the paper bag into Georgi's hands. He leans puts his umbrella down and starts stripping off his outer layers, first his rain boots, then his raincoat and scarf. "You've redecorated since I was here last."

Georgi frowns. Anya had helped him redecorate his apartment, back when they'd first started dating a few years ago. They'd been broken up for over a year, but Georgi still hasn't brought himself to rearrange the apartment. As much as it hurts to be constantly reminded of her, the apartment does look a lot nicer this way.

"Come on," says Viktor softly, taking the paper bag back from Georgi and, in an uncharacteristic display of subtlety, not mentioning Georgi's reaction to his previous statement. "Let's eat."

Georgi grabs plates and cutlery from the kitchen as Viktor unpacks the piroshki from the bag. Viktor's bought far too much for just the two of them, but that's pretty standard for Viktor. Even when he'd been selfish with his time and attention, he'd always been pretty generous with his wallet.

"I hope it's still warm," says Viktor, sliding his piroshki onto the plate. "They'd just finished baking them when I got there, so they should still be warm and fresh."

They are warm and fresh, and they smell amazing, just like Georgi's grandmother's kitchen back in Yekaterinburg. He takes a bite and immediately feels so much warmer and more comforted than he has all day. Viktor pops a bite of piroshki into his own mouth and his eyes light up. Georgi wonders if he missed eating Russian food, when he was in Japan. Probably not, since he was too busy getting himself a Japanese fiancé.

Georgi wonders why he's not eating his piroshki with his Japanese fiancé, right now.

"These are really good," says Viktor. "Nikolai Plisetsky's are better, of course, but..."

"Vitya, why are you here?" Georgi interrupts, unable to keep his curiosity to himself any longer. Viktor looks up, started. "I mean, it's Valentine's Day... Shouldn't you be eating with Yuuri?"

Viktor waves his hand, dismissively. "I had breakfast with Yuuri this morning," he says, as that's ever stopped Viktor from being attached to Yuuri at the hip. "And we'll have dinner together later. I wanted to have lunch with you."

"But why? We're not..." Georgi stops before he says the word 'friends'. It would be cruel to say, even if it is mostly true. "We don't really do things like this."

Viktor shrugs. "Maybe we should," he says. His voice is casual, but he's nervously shredding his piroshki into pieces. "I know we're not as close as we were when we were kids, and I know that's mostly my fault, but I'd really like to go back to being friends with you. Actual friends, I mean, and not just teammates."

Something warm and fond blooms in Georgi's chest. He thinks about his lost friendship with Viktor quite often, but he's never thought of it as something recoverable until today.

"I'd really like that, Vitya," he says, genuinely. "Thank you."

This time when Viktor smiles, it's heart-shaped.

"Of course," he says, popping one of his shredded piroshki strips into his mouth and chews it slowly. "In the spirit of our childhood friendship, I propose a Star Wars marathon after lunch. What do you think? We could get through at least two movies, I think."

Georgi blinks. "You're not going back to practice this afternoon?" he asks.

"You think you're the only one that can take time off, Gosha?" says Viktor, winking at him. Georgi feels jealous at how Viktor can disappear from skating for a whole season and still feel comfortable enough to take time off when Viktor speaks again. "There's more important things than skating, you know?"

Georgi knows that there's more to life than skating. He just didn't know that VIktor knew there was more to life than skating. Georgi's always kind of resented Viktor for that, because Viktor has the trophy cabinet to match his tireless devotion to a sport that Georgi just couldn't rip his entire soul out for, but now he thinks he's always had the right idea.

And Viktor looks happy to have figured it out too.

"Only if we watch the original trilogy," says Georgi. "I'd rather pet sit for Potya than watch the prequels.

Viktor snorts. "Of course," he says. "I'm not a complete heathen."

Georgi smiles as he takes another bite of his piroshki. He always known there's more important things than skating, but for the first time, he thinks that there's maybe more important things than having a date for Valentine's Day too.


End file.
